Pediatric Trauma Mental Health Screening Guideline
Original Date: 08/2023 | Supersedes: 10/2023 | Last Review Date: 03/2026
Purpose: The purpose of this guideline is to identify pediatric trauma patients at high risk for post-trauma mental health adjustment disorder post-injury and facilitate brief interventions and appropriate referrals.
Childhood traumatic stress happens when unexpected, violent, life-threatening, or devastating events overwhelm the ability to cope. ACS reports that 20-30% of pediatric trauma patients report mental health symptoms and/or decreased quality of life (2022, ACS BPG)
Procedure:
Mental health assessment screening to be included in admission assessment which is usually completed in the first or second day of admission. However, screening will be delayed until GCS >/= 14. Children with hospital stays greater than 1 week will be reassessed
Admitted patients identified as having an acute traumatic injury will undergo a brief screening by the bedside nurse using the following screening tool:
ASC6/ASC3 screening
https://www.healthcaretoolbox.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/ASC-Kids%20English%20and%20Spanish%20with%20scoring%20info%20-%20all%20versions%20SAMPLE.pdf
Patients who screen positive are referred to one of the following resources to ensure appropriate interventions:
- Child psychology team
- Child psychiatric team
- Trauma Resiliency Clinic
Patients who do not screen positive may also be referred to the trauma resilience clinic post-discharge.
References:
American College of Surgeons. (2022, December). Best Practices Guidelines: Screening and Intervention for mental health disorders and substance use and misuse. https://www.facs.org/media/nrcj31ku/mental-health-guidelines.pdf
The Acute Stress Checklist (ASC-kids) (2016), https://www.healthcaretoolbox.org/acute-stress-checklist